Seattle-based Sea Lemon’s debut is sensitive, delicate and atmospheric—but with an often more-interesting rock undercurrent. 

Last month Sea Lemon, the solo project of Seattle-based Natalie Lew, released their debut LP Diving For A Prize via Luminelle, the label behind fashionable indie pop duo Magdalena Bay. This summer, Sea Lemon is hitting the road to support Death Cab For Cutie—her collaborators on Diving. Death Cab producer Andy Park produced, mixed and plays on Diving while frontman Benjamin Gibbard features. 

The record is a solid hour of dreampop that’ll please genre devotees and suspend the rest in Lew’s world of wonder–though they might not remember the details after the fact. 

Though Lew’s vocals are characteristic of the dissociative-chic genre—layered to death in such a way that somewhat tamps down any character that could poke through—Diving’s instrumentation is a reminder that despite the name, dreampop is a rock subgenre. It feels like a survey of 21st century indie rock varietals, with bright 2K indie rock guitars on “Change Your Face” reminiscent of the women of indie-rock-folk then and now (Sheryl Crow, Alannis Morisette, Soccer Mommy, Eliza McLamb); surf poppy riffs on “Cynical” and a Cocteau Twins-y spin on 2000s rock on “Stay.” 

It’s primo zone-out music. Would you like to be wrapped in wistful harmonies and gauzy reverb while you stare off into the middle distance? Welcome to Sea Lemon’s hazy embrace. And “hazy” is the operative word here: the tracks share a straightforward alt rock structure, blurred into a fuzz like watercolors. 

It entrances, and meshes well with the central affect of wist—“Thought For You” pulls at the heartstrings, delicate but hopeful; “Blue Moon” will be a perfect soundtrack for some college student driving around feeling the weight of the world; “Sweet Anecdote” is bittersweet and “In The Flowers” is just plain sweet, like wafting through a sunny day with a new beloved. 

The record’s centerpiece might be “Crystals,” featuring Gibbard. The blur effect applied ubiquitously to Lew’s vocals isn’t put upon Gibbard’s. Whereas Gibbard’s vocal comes forward, on the nose, Lew’s sits mired in effects in the back of the throat. Lew says she never heard herself sing until 2020, so perhaps this debut and tour will encourage her to come out from under all that reverb. 

Sure, blurred vocals are in line with the dreampop ethos of atmosphere over lyrics, but Gibbard’s dynamic, grounded feature shows how strong this record is at making rock in addition to vibes—and how much potential Sea Lemon might have if someone lays off the echo. The Marías come to mind as a middle path here; their sound is lushly atmospheric, but with clear, piercing vocals that highlight their lyrics. 

To be clear, that points a great deal of credit toward Lew and Park, the musicians and producer on this record, because the mix is immaculate. Instruments both flow together and pop out, somehow simultaneously. The resulting sound is delightfully textured and filled out—dreamy but robust. It hits the ear as the work of utterly consummate pros. 

Sea Lemon clearly has solid dreampop to offer devotees. But this record’s instrumentation shows clear potential to competently branch into rockier fare. Lew, especially with help from her esteemed collaborators, might be one to keep an eye on.